2 poachers held at Chilika, bird seized

BERHAMPUR: Despite claim by wildlife officials that they have taken enough anti-poaching measures in the Chilika lake, hunting of migratory birds contines unabated in the blue lagoon. Wildlife personnel on Monday arrested two brothers for allegedly hunting the winged guests in the lake.
The accused were identified as Malaya Behera, 47, and his brother Bhaskar, 40. A dead large whistling teal was seized from their possession, said divisional forest officer, Chilika Wildlife Division, Bikash Ranjan Das.The net, which was used to kill the bird, was also seized from them, he said.
The wildlife personnel caught the poachers at Sorana in the lake under Tangi Wildlife Range while patrolling, said range officer Tangi Wildlife Range, Ashok Das. After postmortem, the bird was buried, he said.
It was third bird poaching incident in the lake in last 20 days. The wildlife personnel had arrested two poachers from Balipatapur on November 9 and seized 10 birds from them. Similarly on November 13, they had arrested another two poachers at Nairi in the lake and seized two birds - one alive and dead - from them, official sources said.
The bird poachers become active in Chilika when the winged guests flock to the lake as demand for their meat is very high in the nearby towns, the sources added. At least 18 anti-poaching camps are set up in the lake, the DFO said. The camps would be in place till the homeward journey of the migratory birds in March, the DFO added.
Around three lakh birds have been descended on the lake so far while their arrival is continuing. The exact number of birds coming to the lake would be known only after their headcount scheduled for January 9 next year, the DFO said.